GERMANY - The German pension market is set to grow in the near future with companies adopting the Anglo-Saxon approach pioneered by Hewlett-Packard, according to the former head of HP’s pension fund in Germany.

Hubert Teichmann, who left the scheme to set up his own business, Teichmann Finanzmanagement GmbH, said the US technology group is now one of his first clients.

According to Teichmann, HP pioneered the Anglo-Saxon way of hiring trustees and organising a regularly funded fund by setting up its own pension scheme in 1984.

And the trend is going to grow, he said, as the state pension becomes seen as insufficient.

“People need to take more care of themselves for their future. Once there was the state pension but today things are different,” he said.

Teichmann said that the idea to set up his own business came as HP no longer needed a fully-fledged treasurer and was keen on outsourcing.

His targets for the moment, however, would not be multinationals but medium to large business, big enough to set a pension scheme but too small to have their own consultants.

He said his new business would be divided in three lines of business, including advising funds on specific pension topics as financing alternative pension or flexible working arrangements, advising on investment strategies, making evaluations and offering risk control.

Teichmann also said that, although he had no partner for the time being, he had a “couple of companies” lined up for a potential agreement.